Happy Gardens

My day started out wonderfully! I was going to grab my camera and take some photos of my gardens after feeding the pups. As I was bending over to give the beagle, Max, a boost back onto the bed the crazy Golden Retriever pup, Sweetheart, decided to make a flying leap up onto the bed and smacked me good above my eye. Wow, did that hurt! How on earth do people enjoy boxing? Getting hit like that on a daily basis is unimaginable to me. After icing my eye for a half hour I took a Tylenol and resumed my plans for the day, with, I might add a nice black eye.

We finally got a nice rain yesterday, about 1/2″ and the flowers are all really happy this morning. I do water them but it just isn’t the same as a nice warm rain.

Right outside my front door, I have 2 roosters standing guard. They require daily watering and are the only plants that I have in pots. The Burro Tail is very old and goes back and forth between house plant and outside plant every year.

My bed in front of the solarium is filled with volunteers or plants that just reseeded themselves. I’m afraid that I didn’t thin them very well and they look a bit like a mess, but these tall Snap Dragons are pretty.

I’ve always loved Tiger Lilies and never knew until I looked it up this morning that the black seeds on the stems are called Bulbils and can be planted to start new plants.

The Asiatic Lilies in my oval bed have sort of taken over. There were a few orange ones earlier this summer but now the yellow ones are blooming. They have almost pushed out a pretty yellow flowered bush that I received from Kristin a co-worker who was also an avid gardener. I don’t remember the plant name but I’m going to have to find it a new home or beat back the lilies, lol.

Princess enjoys gardening with me too, when she isn’t ‘punching’ in my stamp room.

This bed is sadly in need of deadheading or snipping of the flowers that are done blooming. Maybe later today? I wanted to share my fun garden flag with all of my grandkids names.

My husband went to change a light bulb in our yard light and found that wasps had moved in, now it’s waiting a trip to the store to by some wasp spray before the bulb gets replaced.

I decided to plant hostas and begonias in my Welcome to the Farm flower bed.

Blondie is one of our barn cats and is about 18 years old. When he was a kitten my son Corey named him the mobil weed because he like to come help weed the vegetable garden. He’s starting to show his age but still has the same friendly personality.

I’m always a bit nervous about opening the electric fence gate when the handle is all wet, even though I’ve never gotten shocked by it.

Ever since his barn mate Teako passed away about a month ago, Hobbs likes to hang out in the barn with me while I clean his stall. I think he’s lonely so I let him hang out with me. If you wonder about his mask, it is to keep the flies from biting his face and eyes. He’s about due for a new one, but I’m hoping this one holds together for this year.

Another few weeks and we’ll be eating apples! They look so pretty with the rain on them.

I’m not sure if it’s the same robin who follows me around every morning or not but they do seem to keep a pretty close eye on me. They really like my strawberries, raspberries and cherries. I’m pretty sure they ate more of them than I did this year.

I’m excited to see buds on my Twist & Shout Hydrangea already! Most years the darn thing is just starting to flower nice when it freezes.

This Green Jewel Echinacea is a fairly new addition to my garden and I’m happy that it made the winter and seems to like it’s spot along the garage.

This day lily, a next door neighbor to the echinacea, is almost done blooming. It was a Mother’s Day present from my kids a long time ago. I’m happy that it has survived so long. I had some beautiful Columbines from the kids that bit the dust this past winter, one from miss Sweetheart puppy.

For years I tried to get Clematis to grow here, then climbing roses…finally I think I’ve found something that likes this spot, ivy. I do have to keep convincing it to stay off the garage siding though. It has little sticky feet that are a menace to wash off if you let them get attached.

My vegetable garden doesn’t have as many vegetables as it used to. With our plans to spend our winter in Florida I don’t really need to put up a whole freezer full of vegetables. It’s about 1/3 pumpkins, 1/3 flowers and then 1/3 tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions, and peas (that didn’t come up).

These Obedient Plants have moved around the gardens over the years and are now stationed in front of my bedroom window.

At one time I searched high and low to find some ferns to transplant to our lake lot, and then a couple of years ago these guys just randomly started growing in the bed by bedroom window.

My fairy garden looks a bit bare after I pulled out the poppies and wildflowers that were mostly done blooming, but now the mosses and hens and chicks are finally visible.

I like to collect fairy garden elements on our trips. I’ve been thinking of possible containers to move my fair garden inside this fall. In the past, I’ve always just packed it away until spring.

This bug is always welcome here, along with my original fairy house.

I gathered some flat stones up no the North Shore and painted each of my grandkids names on a stone to add some more fun personalization to my fairy garden.

Every Fairy Garden needs it’s own Dragon, right? This one was a gift from Grandkids Isaac and Lilly.

This old hand pump has been here on the pond since the beginning but this little ladybug just landed here this year, a birthday gift from the kids.

These poppies come back year after year and are so pretty. This year they are almost finished blooming.

These cattails are about the only plants that I’m able to put in the big pond anymore. The fish tend to eat the water lilies and dig them out of the pots so they are now in the lower pond.

This little guy was another gift, wow, I made out like a bandit this year. He lights up at night with a solar light.

This angel was a gift from my mother-in-law, Florence, many years ago.

The first Stargazer Lily blossom is just opening.

These roses have been blooming all summer. They are definitely an heirloom plant. When we visited the old site of Forest Center, now part of the BWCA, there are still some of these roses growing, 60 years after anyone has been looking after them.